I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right, it has been a while since I wrote about someone else’s child.

Fortunately for you, I was down in Raleigh last weekend to meet the newest addition to our family — my brother’s daughter Madelyn. Some people have asked for details I was previously unable to provide, but since I have now held the child (and received an informative birth announcement in the mail) I can share that she was 7 pounds, 5 ounces at birth with a length of 20 inches.

She is bigger now and also a big fan of the calming presence of Uncle Chris. Actually, I can’t totally say that since she has two of them and I can’t speak for the effects of the other one. Our time together unfolded a little like a scene from last week’s episode of The Office, just with a little less pepperoni pizza involved:

Alright, it actually looked more like this:

Her parents have charged me with teaching her about manners, baseball, fireworks and building fires, though not necessarily all at once.

Time to start working on my curriculum.